Blog
Nov 17

Introducing our first Local History Kit – Chilliwack’s Chinatowns!

I have been working on developing local history resources with an amazing team of SD33 teachers this past year. I am excited to announce that our first kit on Chilliwack’s Chinatowns is now ready for teachers and educators to book!

The Local History Kits came about through collaboration between the Chilliwack Museum and Archives and the Chilliwack School District. When reviewing the redesigned curriculum, the focus on local content and place-based learning created the perfect opportunity to use the resources that already exist at our museum and archives, and get them in the hands of students!

Chilliwack's Chinatowns Kit

The Chilliwack’s Chinatowns Kit comes with primary source reproductions, posters and a teacher guidebook.

The partnership involved a team of teachers across different grades to tap into the resources and connect them in a meaningful way to the new curriculum. The kit includes lessons and activities that are designed to address Big Ideas, Curricular Competencies and Content in a variety of subjects and grades. The aim is that when teachers use this kit in their classroom, students will be developing critical thinking skills while using meaningful, relevant, local materials.

Kits come with primary source reproductions relating to each specific topic, background information, timelines and supplementary materials needed to teach each lesson. They are now available to book here for $15/week or, if you are a SD33 teacher, you can contact the school district office to book the SD33 copy.

We are looking forward to receiving feedback from teachers to help us improve these kits and make them as student and teacher friendly as possible!

Having completed the kit on Chilliwack’s Chinatowns, we are now working on gathering resources on Flooding in Chilliwack, focusing on the 1894 and 1948 floods. As well, we are developing a kit for Grade 7 classes on key developments in our local community. Stay tuned to find out when these kits will be available!

Have questions about the kits or would like to book? You can contact me directly at Stephanie@chilliwackmuseum.ca.

Stephanie Clinton

About The Author

When I was younger, I wanted to be an archaeologist. I loved doing puzzles and I wanted to find artefacts and piece them into the story of our past. I still love archaeology, but I’ve ended up taking a slightly different path. After graduating from York University with my degree in anthropology, I was pretty sure I wanted to work in museum education. With years of experience working and volunteering with all age groups in various educational capacities, I thought it would be a great combination of my passions. After a year in France teaching English, I attended the University of Toronto and received my Bachelor of Education. Since then, I’ve been lucky to work on some exciting education and outreach projects in Toronto with museums, art galleries and cultural institutions. I’m excited to be at the Chilliwack Museum and Archives and have brought along some big ideas for the future of education and engagement programming here at the museum. I’m looking forward to meeting you, hearing your stories of Chilliwack and sharing my passion for history with any and all ages!